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Tipped to replace Gregg Wallace on MasterChef, Andi Oliver believes the controversy surrounding his behaviour has been blown out of proportion. 'The thing to do is not be too melodramatic about it,' she tells me.
'Gregg Wallace is not the only person who's been given a licence to behave in ways that are inappropriate.
'And for everybody to pretend that he is a kind of lone wolf is disingenuous and a bit ridiculous, really.'
Oliver, 61 adds: 'Instead of wanging on about him, we should be making sure that environments are good, productive, safe spaces for people to work in.'
They start filming the new series of MasterChef next year — and sources at the show are already ruling out the possibility of Gregg returning, no matter what the inquiry into his behaviour finds.
The question is: who will be stepping into his shoes? At this early stage, the programme bosses would like chef Oliver or food critic Grace Dent to take Wallace's place.
Tipped to replace Gregg Wallace on MasterChef, Andi Oliver believes the controversy surrounding his behaviour has been blown out of proportion. 'The thing to do is not be too melodramatic about it,' she tells me
'Gregg Wallace is not the only person who's been given a licence to behave in ways that are inappropriate'
Oliver has worked on Great British Menu and presented her own show, Andi's Fabulous Feasts. Dent has appeared on MasterChef as a judge many times.
The Daily Mail's Alison Boshoff was told that the 'dream' would be to pair one of them with renowned chef Angela Hartnett, a previous guest judge.
She has a hugely successful podcast, Dish, with Nick Grimshaw , and a lot of broadcasting experience. But they fear that they might not be able to persuade her to hop on board.
Wallace's co-host John Torode is described by one on the show as 'the legacy host', and it looks as if the idea that he was around — and thus possibly a witness to Wallace's behaviour — may count against him, at least for some.
He has presented the cooking show alongside Wallace since 2005. Torode himself is keen to hang on, as he made clear with a statement on Wednesday this week.
Alison was told: 'The idea of a complete reboot is appealing.' Another source demurs: 'It's too early to say anything definitive yet — except that Gregg won't be coming back.'
They continued: 'Angela Hartnett is the ideal person they would love to get on the show, but it's not clear if she might agree, and if she would want to devote the time to it.
'They want to have one presenter who is a proper, authentic professional chef. The other person, the 'Gregg' if you like, could be Andi Oliver or Grace Dent. They really like Grace Dent.
They start filming the new series of MasterChef next year — and sources at the show are already ruling out the possibility of Gregg returning, no matter what the inquiry into his behaviour finds (John Torode and Gregg Wallace pictured)
'I think that some people also like Tom Allen and (chef) Matt Tebbutt. It won't be Jay Rayner. He is 'too strong meat' for people.'
The source added that Wallace believes Torode would be happy for his wife, actress Lisa Faulkner and previous Celebrity MasterChef winner, to present the show with him.
That's thought to be what prompted him to unfollow the pair of them on social media. However I'm told that a 'nepotistic' hire of Torode's wife doesn't strike bosses as the best solution to the current crisis.
Wallace announced this week that he is 'stepping away' from the show amid numerous allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
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